Tony Sparano, Dolphins have big decisions coming up about Will Allen, Nate Garner

Tony Sparano and his bosses have a couple big decisions to make next week, and not just deciding who the last roster cuts will be as the team finalizes its 53-man roster on Sept. 4.

The Dolphins have two key players injured right now – cornerback Will Allen, who had his knee scoped three weeks ago, and Nate Garner, the team’s most versatile offensive lineman who is out until early October with a broken foot.

The problem for Sparano is that the NFL does not have an equivalent of Major League Baseball’s 15-day disabled list. In the NFL, it’s all or nothing – players are either placed on Injured Reserve, ending their season, or carried on the 53-man roster, taking up a valuable roster spot.

So the Dolphins must decide soon if it is worth carrying an injured Allen and Garner on the active roster as they rehab their injuries.

“It’s a difficult decision … if you don’t really know timetables,” Sparano said. “You have to evaluate maybe the amount of players that you have for those spots.”

Sparano said he doesn’t know the timetable for Allen, but said “he’s doing a nice job on his rehab,” which means Allen will likely be back early in the regular season. Garner was supposed to miss eight weeks when he suffered the injury, meaning he likely won’t return until the Oct. 17 game at Green Bay, which follows the Dolphins’ bye week.

If the Dolphins keep Allen on the active roster, they will almost certainly have to keep six cornerbacks – five healthy ones, plus Allen. When Allen returns to full speed, the odd man out could be veteran Jason Allen, who has fallen behind Benny Sapp and rookie Nolan Carroll on the depth chart.

And if Garner is kept on the active roster, the Dolphins almost certainly will keep 10 offensive linemen to start the season for depth purposes, opening the door for perhaps Lydon Murtha or Andrew Gardner to make the roster for a few weeks. If Garner is placed on IR, the Dolphins will probably keep nine offensive linemen, especially after rotating through so many last season.

Sparano said he sets a cut-off point with his injured players – if they aren’t healthy by Week 4, for example, the team will have to move on.

“There’s a cut off – I wouldn’t necessarily call it that (Week 4), but I would say there’s a cutoff,” Sparano said.

Other news and notes from Sunday’s practice:

— No sign of Channing Crowder at practice. Usually he rides a stationary bike off to the side, but he was not in attendance Sunday. Sparano said he doesn’t know if Crowder will be available for Buffalo in Week 1, but asked if he’s preparing for that possibility, Sparano said, “Not at this particular second.”

— Tight end Joey Haynos, who wore a soft cast on his right foot and was on crutches after Friday’s preseason game, wasn’t out at practice, either. “It’s going to be a little while,” Sparano said, meaning Haynos might be out a long while.

— Ikaika Alama-Francis replaced Koa Misi as the starting strongside linebacker in Sunday’s practice, but the change isn’t necessarily permanent. “We’re looking at him there right now,” Sparano said. “Not really a change, but he was in the first group today.”

— Charlie Anderson is being worked a little bit at inside linebacker, to improve his versatility and perhaps a sign that Crowder won’t be ready to start the season. The Dolphins are trying to improve Anderson’s skill set so that he can rush the passer or play in coverage in the nickel, and play middle linebacker or will linebacker in the regular defense. “That’s a valuable piece, if you could do it,” Sparano said.

— Sparano said he has settled on a starting center, but wouldn’t announce it publicly. Bet the farm on Jake Grove over Joe Berger.

— Sparano said he has “a large percentage” of his final 53-man roster already set, “but I got a couple guys right now that I think I really need to see play.” Sparano will evaluate the backup receivers, offensive linemen and linebackers during the final preseason game at Dallas.